Turn Loose the Swans

Turn Loose the Swans was the second album by the British doom metal band My Dying Bride. It marked a radical departure from the band's first full length, As the Flower Withers. Martin Powell's violin playing had become fully integrated into the band's sound, whilst vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe mixed death metal growls and grunts with the spoken word and an often plaintive singing voice. The first ("Sear Me MCMXCIII") and final ("Black God") tracks ... more

Turn Loose the Swans was the second album by the British doom metal band My Dying Bride. It marked a radical departure from the band's first full length, As the Flower Withers. Martin Powell's violin playing had become fully integrated into the band's sound, whilst vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe mixed death metal growls and grunts with the spoken word and an often plaintive singing voice. The first ("Sear Me MCMXCIII") and final ("Black God") tracks dispensed with electric guitar altogether, while the album was also far slower and longer than its predecessor. For these reasons, "Turn Loose the Swans" is often considered to be important in the development of the doom metal/death metal hybrid pioneered by My Dying Bride and fellow Peaceville bands Anathema and Paradise Lost. Though far from straightforward, Aaron Stainthorpe's lyrics were much less complex than those employed on As the Flower Withers. He abstained from the use of non-English phrases, and explicitly addressed themes such as... less